US withdraws provision for financing Cruise Nuclear Missiles

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The expected summit, between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden, will be held today, Wednesday, in Switzerland. 

The summit is scheduled to discuss more than 10 files, including the Iranian issue, which Biden will also discuss with Swiss officials, according to Al-Mayadeen's correspondent.

"The summit meeting between Putin and his American counterpart will not witness the signing of any documents," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The newspaper Bloomberg quoted an official in the US administration as saying that "the meetings of the two presidents will not be a lunch break between them."

The day after the summit meeting between President Biden and President Putin, the US Navy Secretary, Thomas Harker, announced the withdrawal of the funding item for "sea-launched nuclear cruise missiles" from the defense budget for 2023.

This came at a hearing, held by the House Armed Services Committee, where Republican Mike Turner, reprimanded Secretary Harker and accused him of “unilaterally withdrawing funds without any negotiations or obtaining similar Russian concessions,” undermining the United States’ strategy “to deter China and Russia".

The specialized defense bulletin, "Defense One," stated that both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley disavowed the minister's decision, in their joint testimony before Congress a few days ago.

In a related matter, the new US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, previously told a congressional committee that his country is reviewing the military positioning of its armed forces in the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will discuss the situation in Syria and Libya with his American counterpart, in addition to issues related to environmental protection and other global issues, and hoped that his meeting with Biden would help establish a dialogue between the two countries and restore personal contacts.

The White House had announced that President Joe Biden would hold a press conference alone after his meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying that this was the "appropriate forum" to address the topics discussed.

Commenting on the White House announcement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin was aware of Biden's plans to hold a separate press conference.

"It seems that this is a normal practice for the American president," Peskov said, adding that "President Putin is also scheduled to go out, separately, to meet with journalists and make statements after the meeting."